Happy Birthday To Me

So today is my birthday.  Typically, I enjoy my birthday (as you can see by the pic above) because it's another excuse to get together with my wonderful friends and those I love and eat a bunch of food we don't need and drink myself into a stupor.  I'm not one of those people who has been afraid to turn another year older, or approach such milestones as 30 or even 35.  Someone always asks that token question "so, do you feel older today?"  My answer has never been yes.  I think this is mainly because I suppose I've aged well, and no one ever guesses my age to be over 26.  No one ever believes me when I tell them my true age, and I've never felt my age or felt pressure to conform to where people think I should be by now.  Plus, I still get carded at bars sometimes (Really?  Do I really look 19 to you?) which results in a profuse apology from the door person...lol!  I have never felt much older than the day before.  34, 35- makes no difference to me.  Until today.  

I have passed 30 and even 35 and not said to myself "Oh my GOD, I'm OLD!"  But today I turned 38.  Wow.  Where the hell did the time go?  I am still not married (although in a committed relationship) and I still don't have kids.  I'm not "that girl" that's dreamed of her wedding her entire life, with a life long subscription to Wedding Bells magazine, knowing what dress I would wear by some specific designer, blah, blah, blah.  I do want to get married and I do want kids, but now that I'm approaching 40 I feel like I'm in a big panic to get all this shit done.  I want to get married while it's still possible for me to look good in a wedding gown, and not look like Nana trying to rock clothes from Forever 21.  Plus, I don't want to be creepin' 60 while my kids are still in high school.  Let's get this show on the road, I say!  I've decided to start making plans.  Even though I don't have a ring yet, I think I'm going to start planning a wedding.  See, boys don't get (well MY boy doesn't get) that sometimes you have to plan ahead.  He's the type of guy that waits until it's too late, THEN wants to start thinking about it.  He doesn't put money aside little by little so that when it comes time, we have funds to do stuff.  Weddings need to be planned at least a year in advance, and we will be having a destination wedding so you need to give people plenty of notice to take time off and save up some cash.  Plus, I think if we have a resort picked out and a date, it will force him to start saving for a ring.  I no longer have time to wait for the ring, then start planning if I want it all to happen by the time I'm 40.  Some would say I am jinxing myself by planning a wedding when I haven't been proposed to yet.  Am I?  I don't know.  But the past has shown that the boy responds to a little "push" so to say so I think in this case, it's justified.  

So Happy Birthday to me, and my present to myself is seeing the look on the boy's face when I tell him he's getting married in a few years.  Should be a fun night. :)

   

TIMMMMAAAAE!

0:10 is about how I'm feeling today.  That is all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TloqFIEZJ6E&feature=related

Poop bags. Get some. Seriously.

In September of 2010, we adopted a beautiful retired racing Greyhound.  We love her to death, and she's an absolute joy to have around and super east to take care of.  We live on the upper two floors of a house at the moment with no direct access to our backyard, so we must walk her for bathroom breaks, 4 times a day.  She loves to go to the small park 2 blocks away from our house, so I try to take her there every second day or so.  I enjoy taking her places she likes to go because I like to see her happy and she deserves it after years of being a working dog...:)  It's also been a few years since we've both owned dogs, and when the weather is nice we enjoy the fresh air.  

We are very responsible parents, and very conscious about picking up after her.  I wouldn't dream of letting her shit somewhere and not pick it up.  I don't even leave it in my own yard, and I sure as hell don't leave it in anyone else's or public property for that matter.  One time the poop bag fell out of my pocket without realizing and I had no choice but to leave her steaming pile of shit right where she left it.  But I came back and picked it up because public property or not, that's not cool.  But now that the snow is almost gone, it floors me how much dog shit people have left behind in the park we go to.  Like, it's EVERYWHERE.  Why is that okay?  Why is it okay to let your dog shit where kids and other dogs play and leave it there?  Because it's not your property so you don't give a shit? (pardon the pun) You can't even walk through the park without playing a tweaked version of hopscotch.        

I really don't understand people anymore.  As a dog owner, I have poop bags everywhere- in my car, my purse and in every pocket of every jacket I own.  So many people these days have a sense of entitlement, and feel everyone else should be responsible for things they do or do not think they should have to do.  My parents taught me to respect others and their property, and I don't do to others what I wouldn't want done to me.  I don't even let my dog go to the bathroom on anyone's lawns and prefer she go on public or city property.  Aside from the fact that I think it's rude, there's no way I could get away with the event going unnoticed.  My dog brews up some steamers that are probably bigger than mine so there's no just kicking some dirt over HER logs and carrying on with my day.  Personally, I don't care if someone let their dog shit in my yard, as long as they pick it up.  I'm a dog owner.  I get it.  But it is my luck that the one time I would let her go on someone else's property, she would decide to pick the house of some grumpy 79 year old man who's mad at the world, and (of course) would just happen to be looking out his window at that exact time, come scurrying out in his shorts, black socks pulled up to his knees and sandals with his fist in the air screaming "Get off my goddamn property!  Damn inconsiderate kids!"  Kids, of course, because everyone under 60 is a kid to him.  This surely wouldn't happen to the actual inconsiderate people who NEVER pick up their dog's shit, but to considerate little old me who had no intention of leaving a pile of steaming shit in someone's yard.  They must have all been to his house, because now they let their dogs shit in the park. 

Come on people, pick up your dog's shit!  That is all. 

Why, why, why?

Ok I have a bone to pick.  I'm not one to normally pick on something like this because I am not a jealous or obsessive person by any means and I frown upon those who are.  My other half is a musician who is in bars on a weekly basis, and I've seen girls try to pick up the guys in the band, mine included, right in front of me I might add and I just laugh.  To be with a guy in this industry, you have to be a very trusting person in that he wouldn't reciprocate any advances.  Most women would be surprised at how "the band" views women who come on to them- 80% of them have no interest in women who present themselves as whores or easy (not meant to be offensive to anyone, just what I've been told) and the band is there for one thing and that's to play music.  Now, there is a small percentage of musicians who just wanna get laid, but that percentage is not as high as one might think.

I am always that person that talks down the jealous crazy girl (the girlfriend of a member in my spouse's band is one of these people) and trying to show her how she's over-reacting with no good reason.  My male friends often ask "Why do women (insert ridiculous behaviour here)" and I can't answer because I'm not like that and I just don't get it.  I believe everyone has a past which makes you who you are, and you cannot ever be jealous of what someone did with an ex.  In my eyes, it is not for you to say, because it was before you came along and an argument with this defense is not a good one or one that can or should be won.  However, THIS I do not understand:

Why do some men feel it necessary to keep pictures of exes around?  And I don't mean a nice pic of you two in the park, or at a family event.  I mean photographs of the provocative or sexual type.  It especially hits a nerve when his current girlfriend knows about this person or people, knew he was all hot for the chick back then and probably still is, and most likely needed a drool bucket every time he looked/looks at her.  When a guy sees a hot actress or model on TV, this is not a problem to me.  It is human nature to be attracted to beautiful people and these people are not "real" in a sense.  There is no reasonable threat that your man/woman is running off with these people having a mad affair- they're fantasies and that's ok.  But when that person is real, you've met them or know of them, I think it's a totally different ball game.  

And what about the guy that just likes to have photo documentation of his conquests, casual or serious?  Sure, taking pics in the throws of passion, or whatever kinky thing you happened to be into at the time is fun but why keep a photo album of them?  I actually kind of get it for a guy in his 20's who is boasting to his buddies about the hot chick he banged last night.  But when you're in a long term committed relationship, or married there's no need to keep them anymore as far as I am concerned.  Just a word of advice for those of you that are into this sort of thing- hide them and hide them well if you're going to keep them.  Everyone KNOWS that everyone else has a past, but it's a totally different thing to SEE the photo documentation for yourself.  Once that photo is seen, the eyes that saw it will have it forever etched in their brain and nothing can take it back.  This is not a good thing boys and girls.  

I don't even know the people in this pic and I find it sick and wrong...;)   Thoughts anyone?

 

What the??? Who Doesn't Like Italian Food?

Ok so my good friend Just Saying... has posted a blog about what foods she is not a fan of.  Her answer?  Italian food!  I haven't met very many people who don't like Italian food- or at least SOMETHING Italian.  I am Italian (so a little biased on the topic) but it is my opinion that if you've had Italian food and you didn't like it, it simply wasn't made right.  If you've had Italian food that was prepared and served properly, there's nothing NOT to like- the sauces, the cheeses, the pastries...yum, yum and yum.  Ok now that I'm over that horrifying moment, she is asking us to pass it on:

What will you NOT eat?
What will you eat but it's never your first choice?    

What will I NOT eat?

Liver (also her first choice- good girl!)

Whipped Cream.  I cannot bear to even lick some off a spoon that I used to scrape the whipped cream off of something I didn't know came with it.  Worst invention ever.  

Raisins.  If I bite into something I didn't know had raisins in it, I will spit it out right then and there and I don't care who is around or where I am.  It has to come out and fast.  Again, there is no good reason to put a raisin in any food dish, baked goods included.  


What will you eat but it's never your first choice?  
Thai and Vietnamese.  I have a hard time finding things at these types of restaurants that I am in the mood for.  I grew up eating food with a very different taste (Italian) therefore I've had a long hard road acquiring the taste for these foods, have only had a few dishes grow on me but I will never pick them over something else.  I will eat Pho maybe once a year and that's it.  
I have also been trying really hard to like sushi.  I have tried it twice now, and didn't like it either time.  And yes, I am starting with California rolls.  Can't get past those yet so can't imagine I'd be able to move on from that.  But I am trying...I really am. :) 

Spring has sprung!

Just when I decide to start writing a blog, my life becomes all boring and shit, hence a month passing since my last post.  Not that my life was super full of excitement only a month ago, I just seriously thought I'd come up with more stuff to write about.  I've had a few months worth of confusion, not sure where to take my life next and little to no motivation to take my life anywhere at all for that matter.  But now that it's Spring, I am beginning to feel a little inspired.  The snow is gone, the weather is warming up and I've now got a list of things I'm excited to do and get started with.  There's something about such a small event like a change the seasons that can be really inspiring.  I want to rid my wardrobe of all the sweaters and bulky stuff, and bring out the tees, capris and tank tops.  I want to put away the winter boots and pull out the flats and flip flops.  I can't wait to decorate the patio with spring flowers and new planters, cushions and lanterns.  I love summer.  I have no idea why I still live in a country with 2 seasons- summer and winter (and the summer doesn't last long enough by the way.)  I would love to live somewhere where it never snows- I would not miss it by any means.  Why the hell would I?  If I could work legally in the US, I would be outta here in a heartbeat.  Gawd, don't get me started on that- it'll just depress me knowing I can't and may never be able to move to California or anywhere that's always warm.  :(    

Well, I should probably get going- I have a design business to promote, a dog collar business to start, spring cleaning to do, renovation projects to finish and new rain boots to wear! Tootles!    

Emergency Escape Device? Bungee Cord? Double Dutch Anyone?

So last week a friend of my significant other's made him a scarf...11 METERS LONG!  Yes, that's meters.  WTF?  What exactly is the point of that?  It's so long, he can barely wear it without it being a safety hazard.  The other day I took it out of the car while we were unloading a few things including our dog.  Part of it slipped from my grip while we were walking and fell on the ground, my dog got her leg caught in it and kept walking so it was pulling on me while I was on a sheet of ice and I almost slipped and fell right on my ass.  The friggin' thing is dangerous!  You would need to add on 10 extra minutes to your daily travel time for each time you needed to take it on and off.

Needless to say, he waited 2 years for this scarf because they had trouble meeting up and now he can't even really wear it.  We'll have to get a bigger apartment so this thing can have a room of it's own it's so big.  Gawd.  It's sitting on the kitchen table right now because it doesn't fit in the chair and I'm reminded of how retarded it is every time I go in there.  I'll have to hide it somewhere because it looks like a damn snake and I am terrified of snakes.  Hate the scarf.  Not sure how useful it will be as originally intended.  Maybe we can save our sheets and use it to escape out the window of our apartment in the event of a fire someday  (insert eye roll here.)  Thanks for the new family member, lady!